More Gray Hair, Higher Heart Disease Risk?

Graying hair and heart disease share a number of the same risk factors associated with aging—damaged DNA and stressed cells. A new observational study suggests the two conditions are linked, that is, graying hair may be a heart disease indicator.

For the study, researchers evaluated 545 adult men for heart disease and divided them into subgroups based on hair color, based on this scale: 1 for pure dark hair, 2 for more dark hair than white, 3 for an equal amount of dark and white hair, 4 for more white hair than dark, and 5 for pure white hair.

The researchers also collected information about additional heart disease risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. Study results show that higher amounts of gray hair in adult men—as indicated by a score of 3 or higher on the scale above—correlates to an increased heart disease risk.

Virus Could Trigger Celiac Disease

A new study suggests a common virus could increase the risk for celiac disease in people genetically susceptible to the condition. People with celiacs are unable to eat products containing gluten—a protein found in several types of grain—without causing severe damage to the digestive tract.

In a recent two-part study, researchers discovered a link between reovirus—a common childhood infection that is usually considered harmless and causes only mild symptoms—and celiac disease in test subjects with an increased genetic risk. For the first part of the study, researchers infected animal subjects with reovirus and then exposed them to foods containing gluten. The animals developed an immune system response to the protein—celiac disease.

In the second part of the study, researchers examined various virus antibody levels in groups of people and found that those with celiac disease have two- to five-times higher levels of reovirus antibodies than people with celiacs. This study doesn’t prove a causal link; more research is needed.

25 Percent of Men Have Cancer-Causing HPV

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 25 percent of men and 20 percent of women in the United States have a strain of human papillomavirus—HPV—that causes cancer. Statistics also show that 45 percent of men and almost 40 percent of women have some strain of genital HPV—there are 109 known types—and that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S.

Vaccines are available to protect men and women under the age of 25 from cancer-causing strains of the virus, but HPV continues to spread among older people. Some types of HPV cause genital warts, and some increase the risk for cancer of the penis, cervix, anus, throat, and mouth. Up to 70 percent of head and neck cancers may be caused by HPV, according to some experts.

There are two FDA-approved vaccines to protect against HPV—Gardasil and Cervarix. These vaccines—which are recommended for adolescent boys and girls beginning at age 11 or 12 and require two or three doses—protect against a number of strains of the virus, including those that cause cancer.